The Ad Hoc Theatre Company was formed, as its name implies, for a one-off performance at The Minack Theatre in Porthcurno, at the 1995 Season.

The first ever meeting of the Group took place in Newport, Gwent in September 1994, and was attended by an enthusiastic group of actors and technicians, drawn from all parts of the County - Blaenavon, Chepstow, Cwmbran, Pontypool, Newport and many of the Gwent villages. At the meeting the name of the Company was decided by democratic vote, and the first play was selected - Moliere's classic "Le Malade Imaginaire" ("The Hypochondriac").

The first ever performance was given at the Congress Theatre, in Cwmbran, Gwent on July 15th 1995; subsequently the customary 7 performances were given at The Minack Theatre from July 24th to July 28th 1995.

Such was the success of the first production, that the 'Ad Hoc' Group went on to present further plays, at The Minack Theatre, and at local venues going from strength to strength.

Productions at The Minack Theatre:

1995 The Hypochondriac by Molière, adapted by Miles Malleson
1997 The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar
1998 Spring 1600 by Emlyn Williams
2000 Tartuffe by Molière, adapted by Miles Malleson
2002 The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, freely adapted.
2004 More of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, freely adapted.
2006 The Miser by Molière, adapted by Miles Malleson.

In the summer of 2001 & 2002 further performances of The Canterbury Tales were give at the following venues : -

Congress Theatre ( Cwmbran),
Melville Theatre ( Abergavenny),
Caldicot Castle,
Abergavenny Castle,
Cyfarthfa Castle (Merthyr),
Penhow Castle,
Tredegar House (Newport),
Wheatsheaf Inn (Llanhennock),
Tredilion Park (Abergavenny),
Stoneycroft (Shirenewton),
and The Old Cottage (Treadam).

A number of other Theatrical Events take place under the auspices of The Ad Hoc Theatre Company; 'Edwardian Music Halls' , 'Remembrance Concerts' and 'Charles Dickens Evenings'.

Since the formation of the Group, the members have become more dispersed and have travelled to rehearsals from as far afield as Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Quakers' Yard, Plymouth, Oxford, Manchester, Cambridge, London; and some of the members live in Penzance!

All proceeds are donated to Charities nominated by members of the Group. To date donations have amounted to £22,900.

PAST PRODUCTIONS

The Hypochondriac by Moliere, adapted by Miles Malleson

The Congress Theatre, Cwmbran - July 14th-15th 1995
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - July 24th-28th 1995

The excitement to mount the Company's first production was great! Everything had to be started from scratch; members put up cash (later refunded) to finance the operation - as over £2,000 was needed before there were any returns!

Costumes and furniture were all made by members - and these formed the bases for our stocks of costumes & props that have increased over the years. One prop for "The Hypochondriac" that we have not found a subsequent use for , was a two-foot enema machine ; on the other hand some gowns that were specially made have found their way into almost all our later productions!

One of the members of the Company was a young man who had been a leading member of Gwent Young People's Theatre (GYPT), an extremely progressive and successful Youth Group, based at Abergavenny, which draws youngsters from all over the County of Gwent. This marked the beginning of a very fruitful association for both Ad Hoc and GYPT - the Youth group has introduced a number of talented young people to The Ad Hoc Theatre Company, who, in return, have made regular contributions to GYPT funds.

The company have sucessfully sponsored 3 members through their professional training - Jennifer Kidd at RADA, Ben Addis at Bristol Old Vic & Matt Addis at Mountview. We're delighted that all are now working professionally. The weather for "The Hypochondriac" was very kind to us - and so were our audiences ; at the end we were able to clear all our expenses, establish a small reserve fund and donate £4,000 immediately to two charities, thus establishing the precedent that we have followed ever since.

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The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar

The Congress Theatre, Cwmbran - July 4th-5th 1997
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - July 14th-18th 1997



Another classical play - we needed to trim a few lines! We were fortunate to have two brothers to play the two young blades (both ex GYPT). All the costumes were made by our talented wardrobe mistress and her team.

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Spring 1600 by Emlyn Williams

The Congress Theatre, Cwmbran - August 28th-29th 1998
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - September 7th-11th 1998

Our next choice was a play by a Welsh playright - Emlyn Williams - a play about plays and players in the Elizabethan period. First produced (by John Gielgud) in 1937, the plot concerned a young country girl, who runs away from home, gets a job with Burbage's Company of Players, by pretending to be a boy - then has to act as a girl , but it all goes pear-shaped when she falls in love with Burbage, who thinks she's a boy ! Recognise the plot ? Or are you confusing it with "Shakespeare in Love", the film that emerged in the following year ? Most of the costumes for this production were hired from the RSC, but the fabulous historic costume for Queen Elizabeth was made by a member of the Company.

The first two performances at the Minack were made most memorable by the presence of the tail-end of Hurricane 'Danielle', which caused sea-spray actually to reach the audiences, and howling winds to negate the front-of-stage microphones ; to some of the Company who have been involved with performances at the Minack since 1977, these proved to be the most difficult conditions that they had known.

The play had mixed reviews, but the Company enjoyed representing real 16th Century "luvvies"!

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Tartuffe by Moliere, adapted by Miles Malleson.

The Congress Theatre, Cwmbran - July 7th-8th 2000
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - July 17th-21st 2000

For the Millennium Season, the Company reverted to another French Classic. Moliere wrote his plays for his own Company to perform, thereby making sure that there were parts to suit his leading players, himself included; the Company was fortunate in being able to call upon many of the 1995 team to step back into their personae of the 1660's , and repeat their successes ! Moliere's plays require virtually no furniture and a minimum of props - which make them "naturals" for The Minack Theatre. The weather throughout the whole production was superb.

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The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, freely adapted

The Congress Theatre, Cwmbran - July 27th-28th 2001
The Old Cottage Garden,Treadam, near Llantilio Crossenny - July 29th 2001
The Melville Theatre, Abergavenny - August 2nd 2001
Tredegar House, Newport - August 3rd 2001
The Wheatsheaf Inn Garden, Llanhennock - August 4th 2001
Caldicot Castle - August 5th 2001
Penhow Castle - August 7th-8th 2001
Tredilion Park, Abergavenny - August 10th 2001
Abergavenny Castle - June 27th 2002
The Wheatsheaf Inn Garden , Llanhennock - June 29th 2002
Stoneycroft House Garden, Shirenewton - June 30th 2002
Cyfarthfa Castle, Merthyr - July 1st 2002
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - July 8th-12th 2002



In 2001 the Company broke new ground by planning a full-scale local tour of Castles and Gardens. It was fortunate to receive grants from the Welsh Arts Council for some of the venues, which ensured that the local performances did not operate at a loss.




The Company has strong links with the village of Llanhennock, which is situated just outside the historic Roman town of Caerleon (believed to have Arthurian associations, too). Rehearsals are held at the village hall, and the adjacent hostelry , The Wheatsheaf, has provided an ideal arena for outdoor performances, particularly when they are followed by scrumptious hogroasts! For its part, the Company has been able to refurbish the seating and the curtains of the village hall.



Due to a member of The Ad Hoc Theatre Company being a member of the Cakes & Ale Theatre Company (a group, based in Oxford, that exists to raise money for Charity), another link, too, has been forged ; Cakes & Ale have performed "The Taming of the Shrew" twice at The Wheatsheaf, in 2003, and in 2004 it could well be that with both companies in action, the pub will be able to off a "season of plays!". The companies help each other out with scripts and costumes - with no financial involvement.



The Tales that were included in the 2001/2002 tours were:

The Miller's Tale
The Pardoner's Tale
The Franklin's Tale
The Reeve's Tale (pictured)
The Nun's Priest's Tale
and the Wife of Bath's Prologue



The tales are 'earthy' - but that is how they are written, and we didn't have too many complaints about the bare flesh that was in evidence in the Miller's tale (despite one of the instances being captured on the Minack static camera at 2:30pm on the Wednesday matinee!) And although the poultry were hard "at it" - well, they were only birds after all.





More of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, freely adapted

Brynderwen House, Chepstow - July 1st 2004
Abergavenny Castle - July 2nd 2004
Wheatsheaf Inn, Llanhennock - July 3rd 2004
Caldicot Castle - July 4th 2004
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - July 12th-16th 2004


In 2004 by popular demand the company returned with another sparkling collection of the Canterbury Tales, including:

The Knight's Tale
The Shipman's Tale
The Wife of Bath's Tale
Chaucer's Tale of Sir Topaz
The Clerk's Tale
The Friar's Tale
The Merchant's Tale (pictured)



All these stories, like the previous ones, were vividly told by members of a band of pilgrims, travelling from the Tabard Inn, Southwark, to Canterbury Cathedral, but this time the Pilgrims finally managed to arrive at Canterbury!







The Miser by Moliere, adapted by Miles Malleson

Congress Theatre, Cwmbran - June 29th 2006
Melville Theatre, Abergavenny June 30th 2006
Wheatsheaf Inn, Llanhennock - July 1st 2006
Brynderwen, Pwllmeyric - July 2nd 2006
The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno - July 10th-14th 2006


Molière's 17th-century Scrooge is an obsessive, bourgeois miser who steals oats from his horses, is convinced his children are out to rob him, would rather trade his daughter off in marriage than pay her dowry, and competes with his own son, Cléante, for the hand of a young woman, Mariane. He even buries 10,000 crowns in his garden for safekeeping!



"It's vintage Molière," says Director Derek Richards, "A comic, domestic scene that pits a curmudgeonly, authoritative father against his children in games of love and money. His children, however, are undaunted; they have their own plans not only for love, but also for their father's comeuppance. It's a bit of slapstick, a bit of the Italian commedia dell'arte, and a great romp. It's also one of Molière's best comedies."

Details of the 2007 Juliet & Romeo Tour...

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